Page 21 of Don't Forget Me
The anger drained from her expression as shock settled in, and she looked from his hand to his bare chest to his face. “N-nick Jacobs?”
In an instant, she transformed from a stubborn, brave woman to a fan.
And it was such a disappointment.
Nick dropped his hand and stepped back, more wary than intrigued now.
The woman seemed to sway as if a giant breeze bent her like the grasses at the edge of the deck. Before he could react, her legs collapsed, and she thudded onto the deck.
Nick bent to check her pulse, feeling it beat steady against his finger.
He sat back on his heels and sighed. “Fans.”
7
ELIZABETH
“No,” Elizabeth murmured as her head jerked to the side. Someone had called her, and then she didn’t remember what happened next. Not who it was or what they said.
She answered the phone, and the next thing she knew, she woke up in a house that was too familiar, too painful.
Yet, it didn’t look the same.
Her family hadn’t owned it in over fifteen years, and it was… different.
“No.” Her entire body shook as a force slammed through her, a memory of trauma she couldn’t place.
Her eyes snapped open, realizing she was back in her old room again, yet it wasn’t hers. As a kid, she’d been allowed to decorate her own space at the family’s summer home in Virginia. Pink walls and white curtains surrounding a princess bed. Back then, it was all that mattered to her.
Before she knew how quickly life could change.
A shiver raced through her body despite the blankets wrapped around her. Wet clothing clung to her skin, stealing every last ounce of heat.
It came back to her then.
The man.
Nick Jacobs.
She’d jumped in the lake, thinking she could swim to the nearest dock and climb out to seek help. Yet, when she’d pulled herself out of the water, there was no other house, and no matter how far she tried to walk, she ended up right back at the house that was hers but not.
With a celebrity.
What a weird dream.
She must still be dreaming if she was wet. At least she hadn’t been abducted. Or at least, she assumed she hadn’t. Why would Nick Jacobs abduct her? And if she was dreaming, it meant she was safe at home in her own bed.
Kicking off the now damp blankets, she pulled herself from the bed and opened the closet, surprised to find it stocked full of clothing.
Only… these clothes belonged to a teenager.
Teenage Lizzy.
Coldness forgotten, Elizabeth searched through the familiar styles, getting lost in the bright colors and ridiculous designs she and her mom had both loved. Now, her clothes at home in Florida were mostly grays and blacks, almost like her world had lost its color.
Maybe it had.
Well, that was a depressing thought.
